Kawasaki officially announces withdrawal from the 2009 MotoGP World Championship due to global economic crisis

Kawasaki announced that it will be pulling out of the MotoGP World Championship due to budget cutbacks resulting from the global economic downturn. This would leave both current rider John Hopkins and new signing Marco Melandri not only without rides for the '09 season, but also cause issues with sponsorship contracts both for the riders (performance bonuses, endorsement deals), the team (Monster Energy Drink sponsorship) and the MotoGP World Championship (the grid is now below the required minimum 18 entries per the rules stipulated by the FIM).  The current prevailing rumor is that Kawasaki will officially announce its withdrawal from the MotoGP championship next week.

This marks yet another motor racing casualty due to the worldwide economic crisis. Honda has already pulled out of Formula One, and its American Honda subsidiary has pulled the plug on participation in the AMA Superbike championship. Roger Penske has canceled his plans for the Detroit Grand Prix (hosting both Indy Racing League and American Le Mans series auto racing), Suzuki and Subaru have officially dropped out of the World Rally Championship, and the Audi and Porsche factory teams have pulled out of the American Le Mans series. NASCAR is also feeling the pinch, with many companies pulling back on sponsorship dollars.

Needless to say, 2009 is going to be a tough year for most racing series across the globe, as ever-tightening economic belts tie a noose around increasingly expensive racing exploits.